Baseball game



all

Patented dan. l5, i924.

@A T E NT i F Fl C E;

HERVY P.' WllCKE-Sr, 0F CHARLERE, FENNSYLVALNIA.,

saisissant sans.

appncaon sied. nay is; ieei, serial To @ZZ wtomt may concern Be it known that l, HnRvY P. W'ronns, a citizen ci,V the United States, residing at Charleroi, in the county ot lWashington and State otPennsylvania, have invented cer-V tain new and useful improvements in Base ball Games, of which the following is a specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

rlhis invention relates to Garne apparatus, and particularly to a baseball game.

The general object of the invention is to provide a game apparatus of this character including a puppet or ligure simulating a batter and carrying a bat, and. means whereby the figure with the bat may be retracted against the force of a spring and then released to simulate the action. o-'battingand to provide means whereby a ball may be simultaneously shot upward in front of the bat so that it' the bat strikes the ball, the

ball will be driven by the bat; over thefield.

A further object is to provide a baseball game of this character with very-simple and effective means for actuating'l the batter and throwing up the ball.

And a further object is to provide a game ot this character including igures adapted to be supported in a vertical position at the end or' the eld,which figuresmay be struck by the ball under the action of the bat and knocked over.

Another object is to provide a game of this character wherein the figures are so mounted that when struck by the ball. they will remain tipped over to indicate the score made by the player.

Still another object is to provide a base,- ball game comprising a board` lafidhoffy or painted to represent a baseball field' and diamond, a: doll or ligure representing the batter and carrying a bat, and mounted for oscillating movement, means tor projecting the ball upward in advance of thebat so that the batter strike thev ball', and a section adapted to be disposed in a vertical position and having as a background the representation of a grandstand, and having mounted thereon a plurality ot figures adapted to be struck by the ball and knocked over thereby, the batter being removed from the section representing thel playingv field, and the section representing the playing field and the section representing the gra-nd'- stand with its figures being adapted to be No. 469,474. Renewed. .Tune 16, 1923.

nested in each other so that the apparatus may be packed in a box.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein nigure 1 is a top plan view of a gaine` apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse section across the base forming the playing field and an elevation of the section 30;

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the mechanism for actuating the batter;

Figure s is a Jfragmentary section through the base showing an end view of the actuatinfr mechanism;

zigure 5 is a section through one of th gures 32 onthe-part 30;

Figure `6 is a section through the part 30 showing a target 33;

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the playing field is indicated on aboard-10. The upper tace of this board is painted or otherwise formed to indicate the playing field and on this board is shown the usual diamond A withthe usual bases, and at the plate B there is formed an opening 11. The board 10 is disposed in spaced relation to a baseboard 12, and a surrounding wall 13 separates the boards 10 Vand 12 from each other so as to leave a space between the two parts. This surrounding wall may be interrupted at two points, as at 111, or en-V tirely closed.

Rotatably mounted in' the board 10 and extending downward into a bearing in the board 12 is what may be termed a vertical shaft 15, that portion of the shaft between the boards 10 and 12 being square. This shaft at its upper end is formed to provide a semi-circular socket 1G. rllhe ligure 17 or batter has a downwardly extending stub 18 that tits within the semi-circular opening! or socket. This figure 17 carries a batY 19. Passing through the end wall ot the casing is a` rod 20 which is formed with a shoulder 21, thisr rod- 2O being rotatable andv reciprocable. spring 22 bears at.v one endiaga-i'nst the shoulder. 21 and at the einer end against the wall 1S.y and-the outer end ofthe rod 2O is provided with a handle 23 which is preferably square in cross section. The rod L20 carries atV its inner end a longitudinally extending wire linger 2a which is angularly linger 25.

bent at its extremity, as at 25, and attached to the bottom board Vl2 and extending upward beneath the rod 24: is a relatively wide leaf spring 26, the extremity of which is disposed immediately beneath the countersuuk opening 1l.

The shaft l5 is pivotally andhingedly connected to the rod 2l by the hinge leaves 2'? and 28, the leaf 27 being an ordinaryT hinge leaf, and attached to one flat face of the squared portion of the rod l5, while the hinge leaf 28 is perforated at its extremity and rotatably engaged with the end of the rod l5 by means of the headed pin 29. lt will thus be obvious that the rod 20 may be rotated without materially affecting the shaft l5, but that when the rod 2O is pulled by the knob 23 or is projected by the spring 22, the shaft 15 will oscillate. l/Vhen it is desired to project the ball, the ball C is placed in the countersunk opening 11the ball seating in the countersink of this open* ing. At this time the angular terminal end 25 is disposed in a horizontal plane and the batsman stands with the bat extending over the ball or in line therewith. lf now the knob 23 be pulled back against the action of spring 22, the angular end 25 of the rod 21% will be drawn over the spring 2G and at the same time the shaft l5 will be oscillated in a direction to cause the batter to carry the.

bat away from the ball. When the rod 20 has been fully retracted, if it be turned in a clockwise direction by the knob 23, the angular terminal end 25 will turn downward, carrying the spring 26 downward, and if now the knob be suddenly released, the spring 22 will cause the rod 20 to spring forward, releasing the spring 26 from thel The batter will turn with the shaft l5 in a direction to carry the bat toward the ball and at the same time the spring 26 will Hy upward and, striking the ball, cause the ball to be projected upward across the path of movement of the bat. lf the bat strikes the ball, the ball will be projected upward and forward over the field.

The playing eld formed by the members l() and l2 and the marginal board 13 forms the base of a boX, the top of the box being formed by a cover section 30. The inside face of the cover section is painted or otherwise formed to simulate the grandstand of a ball park, and extending longitudinally along this cover section are a plurality of rails 3l, these rails having horizontal upper faces, and [hinged upon these rails are a plurality of more or less comical figures 32, these igures being hinged upon the rails 31 so that they may tip over backward when struck, as illustrated in Figure 5. All of the figures may be of the same character oi the figures may be of different characters, and l have illustrated on two of the rails circular targets 33 which are also hinged'to the corresponding rails so that when struck they will be tipped backward, and when these circular targets are struck by a ball,

the count given to the player is greater than when any of the other ligures are struck by the ball. lt will be obvious that the ligures may have different counts or the same count as desired.

In playing this game, the base section formed by the boards l0 and l2 is disposed horizontally upon the table, while the section 30 is disposed ertically at the end of the field rllhe ball'being placed upon its seat li, each player rotates the handle or knob 23 and retracts the knob so as toretract the bat and retract the spring 26, and then upon a release of the knob, the batter will strike at the ball and the ball will be projected upward across the path of more ment of the bat. The object of the game is to send the ball into the grandstand and, if possible, strike any one of the figures 32 therein, and better yet even, one of the targets 83. While various rules may be adopted for playing the game and while the figures or targets 32 and 33 Amight carry thereon indications whereby a playerpiecc might be shifted around the bases of the baseball lield to thereby count runs, hits, etc., yet l contemplate that each player shall have three strikes, that is three chances to hit the ball, these three strikes counting one inning. Each time a target 32 is hit it counts for one run and if the ball is knocked over the top of the section 30 it will also count as one run. lf the ball should strike either one of the targets it counts as three runs. While nine innings will ordinarily make a full game, yet obviously any ninnber of innings may be played.

l do not wish to be limited to the particular manner in which the targets are mounted, the particular afrangement of these targets, nor to the use of my device as a baseball game, as obviously it might be used for games of other characters, and that the targets may be changed in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

lclaimz l. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a playing' board having thereon an upright figure holding a bat, tlr; bat being oscillatable in an approximately horizontal plane, resilient means urging the bat to a normal position, manually operable means for retracting the bat against the action of the resilient means and releasing the bat, means for simultaneously projectingra ball in a direction parallel to the ure and across the path of movement of the bat as it is acted on by the resilient means, and a support on the board, the ball projecting means being between said support and the bat when the bat is retracted, said sup rfi-snaar' port having a series of members mounted lil thereon in a line transverse to the path of movement oi the ball when projected by the bat and constituting targets against which the ball may be projected when struck by the bat.

2. A game apparatus including a playing board, a ligure mounted thereon for rotative oscillation and carrying a bat, the upper face of the board being lormed with a concavo-convex ball seat disposed approximately below and having an opening extending to the under face of the game board, resilient means urging the figure to a normal position with the bat disposed above the ball seat, a resiliently actuated member disposed below the ball seat and adapted when in its normal position to operatively strike the lower 'lace of a ball disposed in said seat and project the ball upward, and manually operable means whereby the figure and spring actuated means may be retracted and then suddenly released to thereby project the ball upward from the ball seat across the path ot movement of the bat.

3. A game apparatus including a playing board, a ligure mounted thereon 'for rotative oscillation and carrying a bat, a spring urging the ligure to a normal position, the board being formed with a ball seat in its upper face approximately below the normal position of the bat, a resilicntly actuated ball striker disposed below the ball seat and adapted to strike the ball when retracted and released` and manually operable rectilinearly movable and axially rotatable means whereby the figure may be retracted againstk the action of the spring, said means when pulled in one direction retracting the ligure and when axially rotated retracting the ball striking device, said means when released and retracted by the spring of the figure releasing the ballstriking device to permit the simultaneous movement oi the batter and projection of the ball.

4e. A game apparatus of the character described comprising aplayer iield, a ligure mounted thereon for oscillating movement in a horizontal plane and carrying a. bat, the board being provided wit-h a ball seat below the bat, a spring disposed below the ball seat and when released adapted to engage the ball and project it upward, a spring urging the ligure to its normal position, and means for retracting the ligure and simultaneously retracting the iirst named spring and then simultaneously releasing the ligure and spring.

5. in a game apparatus, a pla-yer board.

an upright figure mounted thereon for oscil' lat-ing movement in aV horizontal plane, a sha t extending below the player board and carrying said figure. the player board formed with a ball seat and betlie normal position ot the baty the iat disposed low the normal a leatl spring Vbelow the board and extending across the ball seat, a longitudinally movable rod having a handle disposed below the player board and having operative engagement with said shaftto cause the oscillation of the shaft and the retraction of the batwhen the rod. is pulled, a strinr urging the rod `l'oiward and the ligure into a normal position, and means carried by said rod acting` to retract the ball projecting spring when the rod is retracted and release said ball projecting spring when the rod is released.

6. ln a game apparatus, a player board, an upright ligure mounted thereon for oscillating movement in a horizontal plane, a shaft extending below the player board and carrying said figure, t-he player board being formed with a ball seat and below the normal position of the bat of said figure, a leaf spring disposed below the board. and extending across the ball seat, a longitudinally movable rod having a handle disposed below the player board and having operative engagement with said shaft to cause the oscillation of the shaft and the retraction of the bat when the rod is pulled, a spring urging the rod forward and the figure into a normal position, said rod having an extension extending across the leaf spring, the extension being angularly bent at one end whereby when said rod is retracted to retractively oscillate the igure and the rod is rotated, the angular end of the extension will engage the leal spring to retract it, the release of the rod releasing the figure to permit its oscillation in a reverse direction and the simultaneous release of the lea spring.

7. A game apparatus including a player board having thereon a ball seat opening to the under face of the board, a shaft extending vertically through the board, an upright iigure mounted upon said sha-ft and having a bat., a leaspring disposed below the pla-yer board and having its free end disposed below the ball seat, a longitudinally movable and rotatable rod mounted below the player board, operative connections between said rod and the shaft whereby the shaft may be oscillated in one direction upon a'retraction of the rod, said connection permitting the rod to be axially rotat-ed without affecting the shaft, a spring resisting the retraction of said rod, said rod having an extension having an angular extremity adapted when the rod is retracted to engage with the leaf spring and when the rod is rotated after being retracted to depress the leaf spring, the release of the rod releasing said leai` spring. n

8. A game apparatus including a player board having thereon a4 ball seat opening to the under face of the board, a shaft extendlthe rod, e hinge ieef mounted ing vertically 'iiioug'h iie board, im upright figure mouiife upon said sila t and having si hat, a eaf spring disposed bei-ow the player board and having its free end disposed oeiow iie boli seat, a loiigiudinaiiy move-bie and rotatable rod mounted below `ehe piayei board, espriiig resistingI the eerection of ugoii die shaft, a second hinge leaf hinged to the iii-s named leaf and having in zw'eiiiue9 pin iozitively engaging the second named leaf' with the end of Seid rod, an extension earried by the rod and piojecting beyond its point of engagement with the shaftg said eX-eiision being eiiguiniiy bent, zi rereotioii oi' the rod carrying the angular end of he exeiisioii over said ieaf spring, a i'oteion of *ehe rod causing the depression of said spring, e release of the rod periniting the rotation of the shaft under the action of the irs; named spring; and Jshe release of sii-id leef spring to project the bail across he path o'f movement of the bat.

in testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

HERVY P. VCKES, 

